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Liu Calvin
Liu Shiqui Calvin, 1st Duke of Shenville (born 23 May 3225) is a retired politician and statesman of Orionese origin who has served in various elected and appointed posts in the Empire of Orion and the current government of the Republic. He has most notably served as Minister-President of the Empire of Orion in the 3260s and 3270s until the Orion state's dissolution; as governor of inner Orion sectors in the 3270s and 3280s; as Minister of War for the Republic for a year; and as First Consul from 3288 to 3292. He retired from public service in 3295, resigning both the First Consulship and his governance of the Orion Capital District. He dominated the Orionese political establishment in the lead-up to the Great War and was instrumental in the political cooperation between the Orion and Terran empires in that conflict. His chairmanship of the Orionese foreign office of the National Humanist movement developed into the mutual drive towards human unity by the two strongest human nations in the Galaxy. He was commended for his services to the greater human good by conferral of noble title in 3270 as Baron Calvin of Shenville. This was raised in 3275 to Earl of Shenville. He was finally raised to a dukedom upon his retirement in 3292, thus giving him a permanent seat in the Central Galactic Congress. Early life and education Liu Shiqui Calvin was born on May 23rd, 3225 to Michael Shang Calvin and Ling-Wa Calvin at the Municipal Hospital in the city of New Jincheng on the planet Shangri-La in the Empire of Orion. His parents were typically mixed-ethnicity Orionese, with elements of Chinese, Anglo, French, and Japanese heritage. Calvin's father was a Member of Parliament to the Orion National Assembly, and his mother worked as a professor of legal history at the Royal University in New Jincheng. He and his parents were Presbyterians, members of a relatively small sect of Christianity that once flourished on Earth, and he attended religious services regularly in his youth. Calvin was privately tutored until the age of ten, when he was sent to the Knox Academy, a prestigious private school. He attended Knox from August 3235 to April 3241. He then was sent to the St. Andrews Institute, a private vocational school for two years, matriculating with high honours in 3243. His parents insisted on a legal career, though he wished instead for a career in aviation. At age 18 he began studies at the Royal University at the capital planet New Devon. He graduated summa cum laude in 3249 with his Juris Doctor degree. He briefly worked as a lawyer for the Orion National Humanist League before committing himself to politics. Political career Orion government While at university, Calvin became active in the student National Humanist group. He became the chairman of the Royal University's chapter of the Student National Humanist organisation in 3244. He was elected national chairman of the SNU for the Orion Empire in 3247. He helped to organise youth branches of the Party and get out the vote for the Orion National Humanist League, the Orionese foreign office of the National Humanist Imperial Labor Party. His first line of work after acquiring his doctorate was as legal counsel to the ONHL's leadership committee. He was encouraged by party leaders to join the parliamentary list and, in the 3250 election, went to serve as a Member of Parliament. He became Party Whip in 3256 and greatly assisted the gradual growth of the National Humanist parliamentary stake. In 3258 he was appointed by the NHILP Foreign Relations Office to be chairman of the ONHL; his first moves were to play the opposing parties against each other in order to acquire amenable terms for the National Humanists to operate as a coalition partner. This served to make the other parties appear weak and desperate for power, while the National Humanists appeared strong and committed to its ideals. In the 3260 election, the ONHL won a majority of seats and Calvin was appointed Minister-President of the Orion Empire by John XX, Emperor of Orion. Calvin's ministry was marked by the military build-up of the Orion armed forces, strengthening defensive ties with the Terran Empire, and implementing National Humanist racial policy. Under Calvin, stricter regulations were placed upon alien protectorates. Previously granted freedom of movement and a wide set of career opportunities, free aliens were now compelled to register their movements on and between planets, were restricted to a narrower set of careers and jobs to ensure full human employment, and were banned from owning personal weapons. Alien migrants and transients of unfree races were compelled to register or face expulsion or arrest. The Orionese military made major defense acquisitions early in his administration, buying from major Terran contractors and suppliers to ensure a large, ready supply of armaments and technology. Some Orionese industrial consortia were displeased by this, but were compensated by 3264 arms contract that allowed them to build licensed versions of Terran spacecraft, armoured vehicles, and aircraft. Calvin pushed for a much more integrated military alliance with the Terrans, with the two considered the closest partners of the Interstellar Treaty Organization. Terran soldiers and gendarmes had met with diplomatic issues when pursuing criminal and pirate groups across space territorial boundaries. These restrictions came to be gradually reduced. Terran fleets aided in Orionese border patrols in the Soviet, Centaurus, and Cassiopeian frontiers. This was perceived by the Soviets as a sabre-rattling gesture, which built up tension between the space empires. The inevitable confrontation between the communist armies and the National Humanist allies came in September 3265. A Soviet squadron made a surprise nuclear attack on Ventra, an Orionese colony world with a heavy uranium-mining infrastructure, at 0950 UTC, September 8th 3265. The attack killed approximately 400,000 civilians and over 250,000 soldiers on the ground, demolished the planet's six major cities, and destroyed its orbital defence installations. The defending space squadron was destroyed prior to the attack, killing some 11,000 astronauts. The Soviet attack squadron slipped away before the arrival of a joint Terran-Orionese response fleet. Calvin, the Defence Ministry, and the General Staff agreed that a state of war existed and communicated with Terran and ISTO leadership. At 1300 UTC, the Orionese government declared war on the Soviets. At 2000 hours, the ISTO declared a joint state of war in defence of the Empire of Orion. This initiated the Great War. Throughout the conflict, Calvin subordinated the Orionese armed forces to the ISTO combined staff's command and control. Some of his opponents criticised him for 'bowing' to Terran control, but Calvin countered with National Humanist rhetoric of the unity of humanity and the war being the apocalyptic conflict to bring about a galactic New Order. Placing Orionese defensive power under the control of the joint allied command was an admission of the new state of things, and the inevitability of human unification. In 3270, the ISTO was reorganised as the Galactic Confederation. Calvin was appointed a member of the Confederate Assembly, and vice-chair of the Orionese delegation. He was a member of the War, Treasury, and Public Safety committees. In February 3275, the war came to a close with a total human victory. On 30 March 3275, the State Dissolution Act formally abolished the member states of the Confederation and replaced them with autonomous member worlds. Calvin ceased to be Minister-President of the Orionese government. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention that crafted the new constitution in April. The constitution was promulgated on 20 April 3275, creating the Central Galactic Union. Consular government Calvin remained a member of the provisional Central Galactic Congress until the first elections of 3276. He abstained from campaigning for legislative office and instead was appointed the inaugural governor, or Consul, of the Orion Cluster sector of space. He held the governorship of the Orion Cluster until 3282. He was appointed Consul of the prestigious Orion Capital District in 3282, and held that office until his retirement in 3295. He held a seat ex officio in the College of Consuls. Central government While serving as titular governor of the Orion Capital District, he was appointed Minister of War in January 3287. The influential but unpopular Duke of New York resigned the ministry due to pressure from a fiscal-conservative faction in the Congress, and Calvin was appointed to replace him. Calvin was seen as a benign minister, with vast experience in managing civilian government both at national and regional levels. He pledged to rein in military spending that had 'gone out of hand' during the Duke of New York's time in office. However, this changed completely in April when an exploratory fleet was attacked in the Large Magellanic Cloud by a previously-unknown alien empire. Calvin declared his intent to resign the War ministry, citing his lack of preparedness for a new wartime scenario, and his 'now mistaken' intentions to pare down military spending and appropriations. He prepared the ministry for his replacement, and resigned in June 3288. He then resumed his role in the College, but was recalled to federal service in August after Philip Rycon resigned the First Consulship. Having been dismissed as Prime Minister in March, Rycon had considered a complete resignation from central government; he finally decided in late July to take on full-time his governing duties on Luna and stepped down as First Consul on 1 August 3288. Liu Calvin was elected to replace him after being nominated by Admiral Pénélope Beaumont. Calvin began his term as chairman of the council by exhorting his fellow governors to follow along with the war effort and orient their resources. Over the next several years, he increasingly advocated for a total war policy in line with the central government's directives. He was accused by rival governors, especially from the Sagittarian and Cygnoid territories, of being "in the pocket" of the federal administration and the military. Some accused him of corruption, and of insincerity given his previously-conservative fiscal ideas as War Minister. He nonetheless took measures to coordinate the sector governments and the vast resources of the galaxy towards the Magellanic War. In February 3291, he oversaw the expulsion and removal of several governors who had conspired against the central government's war effort. These obstructionist and dissident Consuls were removed from office; several were arrested for counter-revolutionary, insurrectionist, and treasonous activities. The Consular Trials in 3292 publicly displayed their treason and sentenced them to death. Calvin, however, was unsure of his position and rather than risk a forcible dismissal in 3293, he resigned his chairmanship and the governorship of the Orion Capital District. Congress After his resignation, he was conferred the peerage title of Duke of Shenville by letters patent of the Central Galactic Congress. He had previously been named Baron Calvin and Earl of Shenville in the 3270s due to his valued service to the human unification project. He was thereafter entitled to a seat in the Central Galactic Congress. However, he has rarely taken his seat and voted on issues in the legislature. He described himself as "mostly retired" from politics. He sits for the necessary plenary sessions and votes on armed forces appropriations issues, but otherwise has retired to a rural home on Shangri-La. Personal life Calvin largely keeps his personal life out of the public spotlight, an achievement most politicians fail to meet. Despite the high offices and positions of power he has held, he kept a low media profile. His semi-retirement has kept him even further, and he places most of his time into charitable and philanthropic efforts on his homeworld. He was conferred the noble title Baron Calvin of Shenville in 3270 for his efforts in crafting the Galactic Confederation. He was raised to an Earldom in 3275 for his role in winning the war. After his retirement from central government service he was raised to a Dukedom. Calvin married Minwa Ahern in 3251, and they remain marries. They have six children: Shang (b. 3253), Theodore (b. 3255), Martin (b. 3256), Rebecca (b. 3257), Ophelia (b. 3258), and Patrick (b. 3260).